290 research outputs found
Quantum buoyancy, generalized second law, and higher-dimensional entropy bounds
Bekenstein has presented evidence for the existence of a universal upper
bound of magnitude to the entropy-to-energy ratio of an
arbitrary {\it three} dimensional system of proper radius and negligible
self-gravity. In this paper we derive a generalized upper bound on the
entropy-to-energy ratio of a -dimensional system. We consider a box full
of entropy lowered towards and then dropped into a -dimensional black
hole in equilibrium with thermal radiation. In the canonical case of three
spatial dimensions, it was previously established that due to quantum buoyancy
effects the box floats at some neutral point very close to the horizon. We find
here that the significance of quantum buoyancy increases dramatically with the
number of spatial dimensions. In particular, we find that the neutral
(floating) point of the box lies near the horizon only if its length is
large enough such that , where is the Compton length of the
body and for . A consequence is that quantum
buoyancy severely restricts our ability to deduce the universal entropy bound
from the generalized second law of thermodynamics in higher-dimensional
spacetimes with . Nevertheless, we find that the universal entropy bound
is always a sufficient condition for operation of the generalized second law in
this type of gedanken experiments.Comment: 6 page
Kermions
In the framework of quantum field theory in curved space-time, we study the quantization of a massless fermion field on a non-extremal Kerr black hole. The key theme in this note is the fundamental difference between scalar and fermion fields for the process of defining quantum states. In particular, we define two new states for fermions on Kerr which cannot be defined for quantum scalar fields on Kerr. These two states are the analogues of the standard Boulware and Hartle-Hawking states on a Schwarzschild black hole
On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton
Starting from first principles and general assumptions Newton's law of
gravitation is shown to arise naturally and unavoidably in a theory in which
space is emergent through a holographic scenario. Gravity is explained as an
entropic force caused by changes in the information associated with the
positions of material bodies. A relativistic generalization of the presented
arguments directly leads to the Einstein equations. When space is emergent even
Newton's law of inertia needs to be explained. The equivalence principle leads
us to conclude that it is actually this law of inertia whose origin is
entropic.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figure
Acoustic black holes for relativistic fluids
We derive a new acoustic black hole metric from the Abelian Higgs model. In
the non-relativistic limit, while the Abelian Higgs model becomes the
Ginzburg-Landau model, the metric reduces to an ordinary Unruh type. We
investigate the possibility of using (type I and II) superconductors as the
acoustic black holes. We propose to realize experimental acoustic black holes
by using spiral vortices solutions from the Navier-stokes equation in the
non-relativistic classical fluids.Comment: 16 pages. typos corrected, contents expande
Quantum catastrophe of slow light
Catastrophes are at the heart of many fascinating optical phenomena. The
rainbow, for example, is a ray catastrophe where light rays become infinitely
intense. The wave nature of light resolves the infinities of ray catastrophes
while drawing delicate interference patterns such as the supernumerary arcs of
the rainbow. Black holes cause wave singularities. Waves oscillate with
infinitely small wave lengths at the event horizon where time stands still. The
quantum nature of light avoids this higher level of catastrophic behaviour
while producing a quantum phenomenon known as Hawking radiation. As this letter
describes, light brought to a standstill in laboratory experiments can suffer a
similar wave singularity caused by a parabolic profile of the group velocity.
In turn, the quantum vacuum is forced to create photon pairs with a
characteristic spectrum. The idea may initiate a theory of quantum
catastrophes, in addition to classical catastrophe theory, and the proposed
experiment may lead to the first direct observation of a phenomenon related to
Hawking radiation.Comment: Published as "A laboratory analogue of the event horizon using slow
light in an atomic medium
The Zero-Point Field and Inertia
A brief overview is presented of the basis of the electromagnetic zero-point
field in quantum physics and its representation in stochastic electrodynamics.
Two approaches have led to the proposal that the inertia of matter may be
explained as an electromagnetic reaction force. The first is based on the
modeling of quarks and electrons as Planck oscillators and the method of
Einstein and Hopf to treat the interaction of the zero-point field with such
oscillators. The second approach is based on analysis of the Poynting vector of
the zero-point field in accelerated reference frames. It is possible to derive
both Newton's equation of motion, F=ma, and its relativistic co-variant form
from Maxwell's equations as applied to the zero-point field of the quantum
vacuum. This appears to account, at least in part, for the inertia of matter.Comment: 8 pages, no fig
Black Holes: Scatterers, Absorbers and Emitters of Particles
Accurate and powerful analytic and computational methods developped by the
author allow to obtain the highly non trivial total absorption spectrum of the
Black Hole, as well as phase shifts and cross sections (elastic and inelastic),
the angular distribution of absorbed and scattered waves, and the Hawking
emission rates. The exact total absorption spectrum of waves by the Black Hole
presents as a function of frequency a remarkable oscillatory behaviour
characteristic of a diffraction pattern. It oscillates around its optical
geometric limit (27/4) pi (r_s)^2 with decreasing amplitude and almost constant
period. This is an unique distinctive feature of the black hole absorption, and
due to its r=0 singularity. Ordinary absorptive bodies and optical models do
not present these features. The Hamiltonian describing the wave-black hole
interaction is non hermitian (despite being real) due to its singularity at the
origin (r=0). The unitarity optical theorem of scattering theory is generalized
to the black hole case explicitely showing that absorption takes place only at
the origin (r = 0). All these results allow to understand and reproduce the
Black Hole absorption spectrum in terms of Fresnel-Kirchoff diffraction theory.
These fundamental features will be present for generic higher dimensional Black
Hole backgrounds, and whatever the low energy effective theory they arise from.
In recent and increasing litterature on absorption cross sections (`grey body
factors') of black holes (whatever ordinary, stringy, D-braned), the
fundamental remarkable features of the Black Hole Absorption spectrum are
overlooked.Comment: LaTex, 19 pages, Lectures delivered at the Chalonge School, Nato ASI:
Phase Transitions in the Early Universe: Theory and Observations. To appear
in the Proceedings, Editors H. J. de Vega, I. Khalatnikov, N. Sanchez.
(Kluwer Pub
Probing Quantum Geometry at LHC
We present an evidence, that the volumes of compactified spaces as well as
the areas of black hole horizons must be quantized in Planck units. This
quantization has phenomenological consequences, most dramatic being for micro
black holes in the theories with TeV scale gravity that can be produced at LHC.
We predict that black holes come in form of a discrete tower with well defined
spacing. Instead of thermal evaporation, they decay through the sequence of
spontaneous particle emissions, with each transition reducing the horizon area
by strictly integer number of Planck units. Quantization of the horizons can be
a crucial missing link by which the notion of the minimal length in gravity
eliminates physical singularities. In case when the remnants of the black holes
with the minimal possible area and mass of order few TeV are stable, they might
be good candidates for the cold dark matter in the Universe.Comment: 14 pages, Late
Absorption of scalars by nonextremal charged black holes in string theory
We analyze the low frequency absorption cross section of minimally coupled massless scalar fields by different kinds of charged static black holes in string theory, namely the D1âD5 system in d=5 and a four dimensional dyonic four-charged black hole. In each case we show that this cross section always has the form of some parameter of the solution divided by the black hole Hawking temperature. We also verify in each case that, despite its explicit temperature dependence, such quotient is finite in the extremal limit, giving a well defined cross section. We show that this precise explicit temperature dependence also arises in the same cross section for black holes with string \alpha' corrections: it is actually induced by them.This work has been supported by FEDER funds through Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade
â COMPETE and by Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e a Tecnologia (FCT) through projects EstC/MAT/UI0013/2011
and CERN/FP/123609/2011
Brick Walls and AdS/CFT
We discuss the relationship between the bulk-boundary correspondence in
Rehren's algebraic holography (and in other 'fixed-background' approaches to
holography) and in mainstream 'Maldacena AdS/CFT'. Especially, we contrast the
understanding of black-hole entropy from the viewpoint of QFT in curved
spacetime -- in the framework of 't Hooft's 'brick wall' model -- with the
understanding based on Maldacena AdS/CFT. We show that the brick-wall
modification of a Klein Gordon field in the Hartle-Hawking-Israel state on
1+2-Schwarzschild AdS (BTZ) has a well-defined boundary limit with the same
temperature and entropy as the brick-wall-modified bulk theory. One of our main
purposes is to point out a close connection, for general AdS/CFT situations,
between the puzzle raised by Arnsdorf and Smolin regarding the relationship
between Rehren's algebraic holography and mainstream AdS/CFT and the puzzle
embodied in the 'correspondence principle' proposed by Mukohyama and Israel in
their work on the brick-wall approach to black hole entropy. Working on the
assumption that similar results will hold for bulk QFT other than the Klein
Gordon field and for Schwarzschild AdS in other dimensions, and recalling the
first author's proposed resolution to the Mukohyama-Israel puzzle based on his
'matter-gravity entanglement hypothesis', we argue that, in Maldacena AdS/CFT,
the algebra of the boundary CFT is isomorphic only to a proper subalgebra of
the bulk algebra, albeit (at non-zero temperature) the (GNS) Hilbert spaces of
bulk and boundary theories are still the 'same' -- the total bulk state being
pure, while the boundary state is mixed (thermal). We also argue from the
finiteness of its boundary (and hence, on our assumptions, also bulk) entropy
at finite temperature, that the Rehren dual of the Maldacena boundary CFT
cannot itself be a QFT and must, instead, presumably be something like a string
theory.Comment: 54 pages, 3 figures. Arguments strengthened in the light of B.S. Kay
`Instability of Enclosed Horizons' arXiv:1310.739
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